Westview, Jimtown on a collision course

February 11, 2006|MARK BRADFORD Tribune Staff Writer

LAKEVILLE -- Westview and Jimtown will meet in a rematch of their game just a couple weeks ago when they battle for the Class 2-A LaVille Sectional championship tonight. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The Warriors looked virtually invincible at times in Friday night's opener as they rode Tiffany Fisher's double-double (28 points, 10 rebounds) to a 55-42 win over John Glenn. Jimtown came back from a 17-8 first quarter deficit behind the strong inside play of juniors Stephanie Wagner and Melissa Goward to end Bremen's season in a 46-40 Jimmie win. Goward had a double-double of her own with a 19-point, 10-rebound effort while Wagner led all scorers with 21 points. Westview (20-3) is the defending champion and defeated Jimtown (15-6) in their Jan. 31 regular season game, 56-44. "Westview has a great inside-outside combination and that makes them very tough to play," Jimtown coach Gene Johnson said. "It should be a great game." -Westview 55, John Glenn 42: At times, it looked like a simple game of pitch, catch and score for Fisher as the Falcons had trouble figuring out how to defend the 6-foot-1 sophomore, who had a three-inch advantage on the tallest Glenn defender. "It takes a player with great hands as well as guards who can get the pass to her to make that play effective," Warrior coach Randy Yoder said. "Obviously having Fisher play that well is a great advantage. She has to establish position and give our guards the target and they have to get it to her. She certainly is our first option in most situations." The Warriors jumped out to a 20-6 edge early in the second quarter before Glenn's shots began to fall. With 1:20 to go in the third quarter, a 10-footer by the Falcons' Rachel Wilkinson brought them back to within four at 34-30. However, a three-point play and a 3-pointer 40 seconds later, both by Westview's Michelle Haney set the third quarter score at 40-30 and took the air out of the comeback attempt. The loss ended the Falcons five-game winning streak and ended their season at 13-9. Tara Irwin led Glenn with 13, Wilkinson added 11 and Rebecca Morris tossed in 10. "If we had played the first half like we played the third quarter, we would have been all right," Falcon coach Dan Hutton said. "I think we were intimidated on offense. In the second half I think we defended Fisher better but that is what we were supposed to do in the first half and just didn't get it done." GLENN (42): Kelsey Haney 0 0-0 0, Rachel Wilkinson 5 1-4 11, Alyssa Davis 1 0-0 2, Kelli Price 0 0-0 0, Laura Short 0 0-0 0, Brittany Adkins 3 0-0 6, Sara Knape 0 0-0 0, Tara Irwin 5 3-4 13, Rebecca Morris 4 2-3 10. Totals: 18 6-11 42. WESTVIEW (55): Jordan Slabach 0 0-0 0, Michelle Haney 3 3-3 10, Cheri Borkholder 1 0-2 2, Colette Lambright 1 0-0 3, Tiffany Fisher 12 4-8 28, Jina Hite 0 0-0 0, Emily Lamkin 2 4-4 8, Mallory McFarren 0 0-0 0, Ashley Miller 1 2-2 4, Melissa Mast 0 0-0 0, Ashton Schwartz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 13-19 55. Glenn 6 14 30 42 Westview 17 28 40 55 3-point goals: Glenn 0-2, Westview 2-5 (Lambright, Haney). Overall shooting:Glenn 18 of 44 for 41 percent, Westview 20 of 42 for 48 percent. Rebounds: Glenn 18 (Morris 6, Westview 27 (Fisher 10). Total fouls (fouled out): Glenn 18 (Wilkinson), Westview 16 (none). Turnovers: Glenn 12, Westville 10. Officials: Kim Yelich (Schererville) and John Wright (Etna Green). -Jimtown 46, Bremen 40: It looked like Bremen had a real shot to pull a minor upset when it had the hotter shooting hand in the first quarter and sustained the momentum in the second quarter to establish a 24-19 halftime lead. However, the Lions' poor shooting problems have plagued them all year and a couple of misses on gimme shots early in the third quarter unleashed a 9-0 Jimmie run which gave Jimtown its first lead, 28-26, with 5:30 to go in that period. The scene was repeated later in the contest when Jimtown put together the decisive 10-2 run to lead 41-34 with 3:20 remaining. Bremen still had a couple of chances but was able to hit only 1-for-7 from the free throw line at crucial times. The Jimmie inside duo of Goward and Wagner combined for 23 second-half points. "Bremen shot very well in the first half and that concerned us a little bit," Johnson said. "We didn't think they could shoot like that and so we tried to stop the post and, of course, they hit from the outside. In the second half we did a much better job of taking care of the ball and keeping them off the boards. That eight-point run was huge because we play better if we have a little bit of a lead." Bremen ended its season at 8-13 and was led by Valerie Bollenbacher's 14 points. Paola Montes added 10. "It's not like we were not getting good shots tonight," Lions coach Martin Huber said. "We were getting great shots, we just were not knocking them down and I think we should have gotten to more loose balls than we got to. Going 1-for-7 in free throws will hurt you. It has hurt us all year." JIMTOWN (46): Stephanie White 1 0-0 2, Cassandra Bumpus 0 0-1 0, Mackenzie Cook 1 0-0 2, Stephanie Wagner 7 7-7 21, Kristine Hosinski 0 0-0 0, Lisa Neufeldt 1 0-2 2, Melissa Goward 5 9-13 19, Victoria Wallin 0 0-1 0. Totals: 15 16-24 46. BREMEN (40): Chelsey Chang 1 0-0 3, Jessie Creakbaum 2 0-0 4, Valerie Bollenbacher 7 0-3 14, Jenni Andrews 0 0-0 0, Paola Montes 4 0-0 10, Amanda Krieger 0 0-2 0, Kortney Lakins 2 3-4 7, Ali Moren 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 3-9 40. Jimtown 8 19 37 46 Bremen 17 24 32 40 3-point goals: Jimtown 0-2, Bremen 3-15 (Montes 2, Chang 1). Overall shooting: Jimtown 15 of 25 for 60 percent, Bremen 17 of 47 for 36 percent. Rebounds: Jimtown 24 (Goward 10), Bremen 18 (Krieger 9). Total fouls (fouled out): Jimtown 11 (none), Bremen 22 (Montes). Turnovers: Jimtown 14, Bremen 7. Officials: Bud Wolf (Huntington) and James Newburn (Kokomo).